PSA for System Changer owners

[nick3092]

Was going through and cleaning/inspecting some of my consoles and found a leaky cap in my system changer. It has two caps, both 4.7uF/25v. One axial on the main board (which was still ok) and one radial on the daughter board that plugs into the Intv (this one leaked).

 

There was some green corrosion on the legs and cap and a little on the PCB. Luckily it didn't damage the PCB and cleaned up easily with some IPA. 

 

It could be just a fluke mine leaked, or the whole batch of caps they used maybe starting to leak. So up to you if you want to inspect and/or replace it. Just wanted to pass on that I found a bad cap in mine.

 

 

[walldog1]

Is this Capacitor one you bought and installed in the last year or two, or were you having problems and took apart and found it? It is a common problem for electrolytic capacitors that are very old and past their usage hours as stated by technical sheet for that part number.

 

If you bought this in the past couple of years and installed, let us know who you bought this from.

[nick3092]

It's the oem cap that came with the unit. Which is why I'm suggesting people check theirs. Could be a fluke, could be Mattel had a bad batch. Everyone thinks of checking/replacing caps for the main console. But sometimes over look checking accessories like these.

[walldog1]

Electrolytic capacitors can also go bad without any visual signs. When I rebuild my Intellys, I always pull those caps and measure the capacitance value and make sure it is not more then +/- 20% of rated value. If getting lower reading, then I replace them, sometimes individually, sometimes I replace all of them, then there should be no problems for the buyer down the road.